He was expecting a reaction, perhaps a scolding, but Dr. Burdough remained neutral. “Is that why you were drawn to Juliana? Because her character felt like a validation of your position and leadership?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Then, I guess the question is, what happened before Juliana that sparked this insecurity of yours that made you seek validation from someone other than yourself and your alpha.”
Before Juliana?
But Zayden always thought his insecurity and anxiety came after her.
Shit. Everything he did, all those stupid decisions that ledtoJuliana, he never even thought about why he made them. He had been stuck on everything that happened afterwards. He never even stopped to think why everything happened the way it did.
Dr. Burdough asked another question, but Zayden couldn’t recover in time. Five minutes of silence blurred past them before the sound of Dr. Burdough closing her notebook made him look up.
“This was a promising first session, Zayden. Thank you for being willing to participate and trusting me with your past, thoughts, and feelings. I was most curious about how my sessions with you would go, and I’d like to leave you with hope, because I see a very happy future for you.”
She saw hope?
Thank God,his alpha howled,because after all of that, I feel like we’re more screwed than before.
His shoulders sagged as he walked out of her office.Really?
No! I feel like she’s right. This is going to be a long, terrible journey. But she’s right. I see a happy future for us, too. One with our pack and our mate. I hope by the end of the month you’ll see it, too.
Zayden said nothing, but he felt a bit more relaxed and completely exhausted. Therapy was hard work, and he felt almost entitled to be paid for it.
Chapter 26
It had been well over a week since she discovered she was mated to the Obsidian Alphas, and in that time, Sonnet had discovered that having mates wasn’t as terrible or terrifying as her birth mother always said. It felt more like home than her own home had. And it also felt like all four boys were keeping something from her.
She’d seen each of them carrying their own notebook with their names on it, secretly scribbling things inside, and a very annoying part of her wanted to steal them away to see what all the fuss was about. Why were they here at the beach? To bond? Or was something bigger happening that she wasn’t aware of?
Well, who cares? Not her! Notreally. Not when she was having too much fun to ruin it.
She couldn’t get over all this sunshine and sand and perfect evenings, mornings, and in-betweens. Perfect was an understatement, but Sonnet didn’t have enough words to express her big feelings. All she knew was that she was happy, and so was her omega.
Right?
Hmm.
Still no words, but a humming noise in reply was a big step forward.
Sonnet smiled, digging her painted toes into the sand as the ocean waves inched closer and closer. Beside her, Summer was on speaker, ranting on and on about work and how no one in her building was taking her seriously as a journalist, leaving her to write all the gossip pieces when all she really wanted to write about was things to make peoplefeel, like saving the planet and feeding the hungry.
Summer had been writing for so long now because it was the only way to calm her inflammation of rage and ambition. Sonnet always loved that most about her sister. Her passion for life was so intense that it had to be quelled.
“I swear, I’m going to quiet and find something better.”
Sonnet smiled and tossed a seashell into the water. “You’ve said that since you graduated from college last year.”
“It’s not that simple, Sonnet. You know I needed the experience to make a name for myself in order to be taken seriously in this industry, and this company was best known for accepting graduates. It made sense at the time.”
“Iknowbecause you’ve been telling me all that for the past year, too!” Sonnet picked up her phone, the bedazzles slightly hot from sitting in the sun, and clicked her off the speaker. “What happened to your blog? Weren’t you and Scarlett working on something together?”
She scoffed and Sonnet could hear the eyeroll in her tone. “Scarlett loves a cause, but she’s impulsive. I couldn’t keep up with all her protests and what not. I think she’s still posting paragraphs and pictures, but I wantmore. I’m twenty-three years old. I know that’s still young, but how much longer do I have to wait until I can say I’ve written and published somethingof substance, of meaning, instead of telling people I’m the head of the gossip column? Gossip. UGH! I’ve sold myself out!”
“Youshouldquit.”
“Yeah, I should.” She sighed. “Maybe next year—”
